THE Central Bank of Nigeria on Monday directed all banks to commence charging a 0.5 per cent cybersecurity levy on all electronic transactions within the country. The apex bank stated this in a circular signed by the Director, Payments System Management Department, Chibuzo Efobi; and the Director, Financial Policy and Regulation Department, Haruna Mustafa; a copy of which was obtained by PUNCH Online. The circular, which was directed to all commercial, merchant, non-interest, and payment service banks, among others; noted that the implementation of the levy would start two weeks from Monday, May 6, 2024. “The levy shall be applied…
Author: Hamza Rufai
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VICE President Kashim Shettima, originally scheduled to represent President Bola Tinubu at the 2024 US-Africa Business Summit hosted by the Corporate Council on Africa, has been forced to make a detour. Shettima was expected to join other political and business leaders across Africa, the United States of America and beyond for the summit featuring high-level dialogues, networking business sessions and the plenary. The summit is scheduled to be held from May 6 to May 9, 2024 However, a statement by his Senior Special Assistant on Media and Communications, Stanley Nkwocha, on Monday, revealed that a technical fault with the VP’s…
THE Federal Government has clarified that there were no discussions with foreign countries regarding the establishment of foreign military bases in Nigeria. The Minister of Information and National Orientation, Mohammed Idris, made this known in a statement on Monday. Giving further clarification on the issue, Idris said the FG was not engaged in any discussions with foreign countries regarding the establishment of military bases in Nigeria, nor has it received any proposals for such. The minister urged the public to disregard false alarms and emphasised the government’s commitment to existing foreign cooperation in addressing security challenges. He said, “The Federal…
NIGERIANS studying abroad on scholarship have lamented the non-payment of their stipends for the past 11 months by the Federal Government. The students, under the Union Nigerian Bilateral Education Agreement Scholars, in a statement sighted by a correspondent on Sunday, stated that the situation has left them in serious financial hardships which have also affected their academic performances. “Some students in China have not received any stipends since they arrived in April and May 2023. In Russia, students are struggling with the increased cost of living due to sanctions. “This pattern of delayed payments has persisted for years, diverting our…
A CHIEFTAIN of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Dele Momodu, has faulted the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission’s conduct in its attempt to prosecute the immediate past Governor of Kogi State, Yahaya Bello. He said he had expected the anti-graft agency’s boss, Ola Olukoyede, to have learnt from the cases of his predecessors, who he said were “booted out ignominiously”. Momodu, who spoke on his Instagram Live show, while responding to questions on the burning topic by viewers, also frowned at the issue of selective prosecution, saying “a situation where EFCC would have to be told who can be touched…
THE federal government has disclosed that it will flush out persons in public and private organisations working with fake certificates. The Minister of Education, Prof. Tahir Mamma, disclosed this on Friday when he received the report of an Inter-Ministerial Investigative Committee on Degree Certificate Milling from the Chairman of the committee, Prof. Jubrila Amin. Mamman, who expressed sadness over what was uncovered during the investigations, said the ministry would work with relevant agencies to sanitise the education sector and rid it of any fake tendencies. “We can’t afford to have the integrity of our education soiled by some few persons.…
THE Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) insists the proposed N615,000 minimum wage is realistic, dismissing claims that some states cannot pay such an amount if approved. Recent reforms in Nigeria including the removal of fuel subsidy and the unification of the foreign exchange market have pushed the cost of living to newer levels. Inflation figures hit 33.2 per cent in March, further compounding a troubled economy. Labour unions and the Federal Government have since been locked in negotiations over measures including a new minimum wage to cushion the impacts of the harsh economy. The NLC is proposing a N615,000 monthly salary…
THE National Hajj Commission of Nigeria (NAHCON) says Nigeria’s inaugural flight to Saudi Arabia for this year’s hajj will take off on May 15, 2024. This was made known by NAHCON Chairman/CEO, Malam Jalal Ahmad Arabi, in his opening remark at the first National Stakeholder Summit of Nigeria’s Hajj and Umrah Industry held at the Shehu Musa Yar’Adua Centre in Abuja. Arabi said close to 65,500 Nigeria pilgrims would participate in the 2024 Hajj, adding that they would be airlifted by the approved airlines from 10 departure centres across the country. The NAHCON boss said the commission had decided that…
THE House of Representatives Committees on Petroleum Resources (Downstream and Midstream) have urged security agencies to clamp down on fuel marketers hoarding petrol and engaging in the arbitrary increment in the price of the premium commodity. In a statement on Wednesday jointly signed by the Chairmen of the two committees, Ikenga Ugochinyere and Henry Okojie, the lawmakers said they reached out to the stakeholders in the petroleum distribution value chain to end fuel queues in the country. The lawmakers said they have engaged the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL), Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA), the Petroleum…
THE Federal Government had declared Wednesday, May 1st, 2024 as a public holiday to mark this year’s Workers’ Day event. Nigeria’s Minister of Interior Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo made the declaration, according to the ministry’s Permanent Secretary Aishetu Ndayako. “The Federal Government has declared Wednesday, 1st May 2024 as a Public Holiday to commemorate this year’s Workers’ Day Celebration,” Aishetu said in a Tuesday statement. She quoted the minister as re-echoing the need for excellence, efficiency, and equity in all spheres of labour. “In alignment with this year’s theme, which focuses on ensuring safety and health at work in a changing climate,…
A FORMER Governor of Sokoto State, Attahiru Bafarawa, on Monday lamented the activities of bandits in the north. He revealed how bandits made him abandon his 10,000 hectares of land in Kaduna State. Speaking tp newsmen on the backdrop of the high cost of foodstuff in the country, Bafarawa noted that people now seek permission from bandits before going to the farm. He said bandits were the ones who decided which farm to cultivate or not in his community. “I used to have farmland, which is over 10,000 hectares in Birni Gwari of Kaduna State. I have been cultivating that…
THE Minister of Power, Adebayo Adelabu, has assured that any customer not currently enjoying 20 hours of electricity would not pay the new tariff. The minister stated this on Monday while appearing before the Senate Committee on Power, for a one-day investigative hearing on the need to halt the proposed increase in electricity tariff by eleven successor electricity distribution companies amid the biting economic situation in Nigeria. According to him, the government had introduced a new policy to save the drowning sector, assuring Nigerians that the pains were temporary. The clarification comes as electricity consumers grapple with the recent increase…
A FORMER Governor of Jigawa State, Sule Lamido, says the Northern governors’ recent United States trip to discuss insecurity in the region exposed their ignorance of the constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. Lamido stated that embarking on such a journey to discuss insecurity, which he said is a matter on the exclusive legislative list, showed the substance of the governor. “But to engage on issues which are on the Exclusive Legislative List such as security says a lot about the substance they are made of. “Security is a very wide subject which their excellencies must have the capacity…
THE Nigeria Correctional Service has stepped up efforts to track down and recapture escaped inmates of the Suleja Medium Security Custodial Centre, Niger State. The Minister of Interior, Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo, on Thursday, said the government would relocate a lot of correctional centres to create better infrastructure and security. Tunji-Ojo made the pledge when he visited the Niger custodial centre, where 119 inmates had escaped following a rainstorm that damaged the facility on Wednesday. This was contained in a statement issued in Abuja by the Director of Press and Public Relations of the ministry, Ozoya Imohimi. The minister said it was…
THE ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) has unearthed how Kano state-led New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP), Thursday mobilised a crowd of persons in Abuja to protest against the continuous stay in office of Dr. Abdullahi Umar Ganduje as the party’s National Chairman. The party, in a statement signed by the Special Assistant to the National Chairman on Civil Society and Support Group, Comrade Okpokwu Ogenyi, revealed that the Kano state government hired protesters from the street, mostly Kwankwasiyya members, some of whom are from the North-central zone, to demand for the National Chairman’s resignation. According to Ogenyi, the protest was…
PROFFESOR Nwoke Friday Chijioke, the former Vice President of the ECOWAS Court of Justice, has spoken out against the press conference conducted by the Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), particularly in relation to its discussion of Yahaya Bello, the former Governor of Kogi State. Speaking on Politics Today, a programme on Channels Television, Prof. Chijioke criticized the EFCC’s approach, denouncing it as an unfair trial and labelling it as a form of media trial. He stressed the importance of discretion in such matters, emphasizing that institutions of justice, like the EFCC, should conduct investigations discreetly without…
THE Federal Government has revoked an additional 924 dormant mineral licences with immediate effect. The revoked mineral licences which include 528 exploration licences, 20 mining leases, 101 quarry licences, and 273 small-scale mining licenses, were disclosed to journalists by the Minister of Solid Minerals Development, Dele Alake, during a press briefing in Abuja on Wednesday. Recall that in November 2023, the ministry under the current administration made a revocation of 1,663 mineral licences, which was the first batch of licences revoked. Speaking during the briefing, Alake lamented the high rate of licence racketeering, as well as dormant mineral licences, which…
THE Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Heineken Lokpobiri, has reiterated claims that the Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board (NCDMB), under the leadership of the former executive secretary, Simbi Wabote, “wasted” over $500 million of the industry’s fund on equity investments, private establishments, and non-performing loans. Lokpobiri was reacting to a recent media statement by Wabote that his office requested an increase in the NCDMB budget by N30bn for the minister’s office. “It is a blatant lie from the pit of hell,” Lokpobiri said in a statement signed by his Senior Adviser Media and Communication Officer, Nneamaka Okafor. Lokpobiri…
DANGOTE Petroleum Refinery has again reduced the prices of diesel and aviation fuel to N940, and N980 per litre, respectively. This comes after its widely celebrated price reduction to N1,000 barely two weeks ago. The price change of N940 applies to customers buying five million litres and above from the refinery, while the price of N970 is for customers buying one million litres and above. The Head of Communication, Mr Anthony Chiejina, who announced the development in a statement, explained that the new price aligns with the company’s commitment to cushion the effect of economic hardship in Nigeria. “I can…
THE Corporate Affairs Commission has revoked the certificates of incorporation of NIPOST Properties and Development Company and NIPOST Transport and Logistics Services Limited. This revocation followed the discovery of an illegal transfer of N10 billion in restructuring funds released by the Federal Ministry of Finance to the agency’s subsidiaries. The CAC, in a statement on Monday, said, “The General Public is hereby informed that the Commission, sequel to its powers contained in Section 41 (7) of the Companies and Allied Matters Act No. 3 of 2020, revoked the Certificates of incorporation of the below-mentioned companies because the same was improperly…